Mystery Bird: Scaly chatterer, Turdoides aylmeri

Scaly chatterer, Turdoides aylmeri , photographed at Nyumba ya Mungu reservoir , Tanzania, Africa. Dan Logen , January 2010 [ raptorize ]. Nikon D300, 600 mm lens, ISO 500, f/6.3, 1/1000 sec. Question: This African mystery bird is a member of a family that has been the subject of a lot of DNA work recently, which means that our understanding of this group is in a state of flux at the moment. Can you name this species? Response: This bird is a scaly chatterer, Turdoides aylmeri , which is a member of the passerine family, Timaliidae. This large passerine family has been subjected to a lot of recent DNA sequencing work that has resulted in a rather large rearrangement of species. This species name -- Turdoides aylmeri -- is accurate as of February 2009. If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and appreciate audience, feel free to email them to me for consideration.